Official Washington on Monday continued to grapple with the aftermath of President Donald Trump’s order to capture and arrest Venezuela’s leader, Nicolás Maduro, wondering what Trump’s long-term plan is for the South American nation.
The answer remains far from clear, with Trump and officials like Secretary of State Marco Rubio offering contradictory assessments of why Maduro, who pleaded not guilty to drug and gun charges Monday in a Manhattan courtroom, was ousted and what should happen next.
Trump, who ran for president in 2024 on a mostly “America First” platform, late on Friday night again pegged his second term to global affairs by giving the order to strike targets in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, and around the South American country to clear a path for American troops and law enforcement agents to storm Maduro’s compound and remove him from power.
